


The Good, The Bad And Everything In Between

by MacAsh



Category: The Bold Type
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 15:28:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12460620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MacAsh/pseuds/MacAsh
Summary: Adena wears socks with flip-flops and it freaks Kat out, leading to an accidental declaration and a lot of self-reflection for both girls.Jane and Sutton try to help their friend and Adena's mom gives some wise advice.A little bit of angst and a lot of cheesy conversations.





	The Good, The Bad And Everything In Between

**Author's Note:**

> I had this on my computer since the renewal (two seasons, still can believe it!) This is actually my first fic in English so I hope it doesn't suck too much.
> 
> I hope you like it!

 

“ _I have seen the best of you, and the worst of you, and I choose both_ .”  

_Sarah Kay._

  

It was the day after their tenth official date and Kat had slept over Adena’s so they could spend the weekend together. The only problem so far was choosing the plans for the day. Adena wanted to take a stroll in the park but Kat wanted to go to one of those escape room places Sutton have been raving about for weeks. They settled on having breakfast and letting their full stomachs decide afterward.

Kat found being in a committed relationship to be quite alright.  They had a great time together. She had never felt more comfortable with someone before and Adena was always incredibly patient and loving.

Sure, sometimes Adena would say something that would make alarm sounds blare in her head, but then she would do something cute and Kat’s brain would rather focus on that and move on.  It’s been almost routine by now and she knows (or rather the girls tell her) she should speak with her girlfriend about it, but a small part of her is afraid of how that talk could possibly pan out. Denial has been working well for her so far and aside from that, their relationship has been going great.

They are going to enjoy their day together and things are going to work themselves out, she thinks as she gets out of bed and heads to the kitchen.

She follows the delicious smells, dragging her feet and raising her head to the image of Adena making pancakes by the oven, a cup of coffee sitting invitingly on the counter and soft music playing from the living room’s speaker.

Adena is her usual resplendent self, looking her best in laid-back chic except for one thing. 

“Uh, babe, why are you wearing socks with your flip-flops?” She asks. Adena turns her head shifting her focus from staring intently at the pancake to arch her brow at Kat with a shrug. “I don't know, I like how it feels.”

“Wow, you really are a rebel," And adds,"But, it’s kind of freaking me out,” Maybe is the volume of the song but Adena doesn't seem to hear it and just continues to stare at the pancake, willing it to cook with the power of her eyes.  

“Babe, I love you, but the socks with the flip flops have to go”. 

_Huh,_ hm... What? Kat thinks dumbly, in succession.

One second Adena is on the stove poking impatiently at the pan, and the next her body is still, the hand that a few seconds ago was reaching for the plates above her head stops mid-air. She looks at her with wide eyes and Kat’s not sure if Adena is scared for her or because of her.

“What?” Adena asks in a low whisper, echoing one-third of Kat's previous thoughts.

“Huh? I mean, what… is…uh….that! Yes, my phone is ringing, I’ll be right back.” she's running to the door completely opposite to where her phone actually was, socks on, shoes off, sans cellphone and channeling Sutton as she runs down the stairs to hail a cab.   

The apartment is silent and Adena is left alone in the middle of the kitchen with a stack of pancakes staring at the open door.

“Oh, no," Adena says out loud to the empty apartment “Breakfast’s canceled then.”

 

* * *

  

“Oh my God” Sutton exclaims, eyes wide in shock. Jane nods in agreement, staring at Kat with compassion filled eyes, the memory of her accidental and totally untruthful I love you to Pinstripe Guy still fresh on her mind.

Kat is at the girl’s apartment, the first place her shock-addled brain was able to conjure for the taxi driver. 

"I know," Kat whispers still in disbelief.

Usually, Jane would need to probe behind walls of sarcasm and distractions to begin to understand how her friend was feeling about something. Kat was used to processing her feelings before talking to the girls, most likely a habit from her shrink parents. The straightforward account of events laced with confusion from the self-assured friend was something Jane had yet to see, which intrigued her.

Sutton, apparently, didn’t share her thoughts.

“I can’t believe Adena wears socks with flip-flops. It’s not only ugly, it betrays the very function of flip-flops, which is comfort, thank you very much" she explains sitting down on the couch next to Kat.

“Really? That’s what shocked you?” Jane asks.

“It’s not like we didn’t know Kat was in love with Adena, I mean, the romantic running all over the city, romantic but expensive plane ticket, the pillow fort, that time she went for a shoot in California and Kat spent the entire week grumbling and listening to that sad violin playlist on Spotify.” She lists on each well-manicured finger easily. Jane and Sutton had noticed Kat’s feelings for Adena a long time ago but were too afraid of scaring their friend to mention it directly, opting for suave and indirect comments. Possibly too suave.

Perhaps Sutton was right in powerbombing the subject to Kat like this, Jane thought as she watched Kat staring at them baffled, like the thought never crossed her mind before. 

“What? That’s not…” Kat barely lets out, her brain feeling like a bike peddling through a sea of marshmallows. “What?”

She looks so lost that Jane yearns for the right thing to say but she was never the one to give inspiring advice or pep talks, that has always been Sutton’s brand of specialty. She shot a look at her best friend over Kat’s bowed head, raising her eyebrows saying “Do your thing!”. They argue silently for a while before Sutton breathes in a sigh and turns to Kat.

“Honey, look at me.” it's Sutton's Cool Mom voice, the one she uses on troubled models and new interns under pressure, soothing and under control. “You love Adena. Okay. So what?”  Jane shoots her a look and mouths “Not helping!” but Sutton carries on.

"Love isn’t the scary part, is it? You love to love Adena, we _all_ know that. I’m not going to say that I know what is scaring you or what kind of doubts you have but what I do know is that if there is one thing capable of giving you the courage to face it, that person is Adena." It seemed to be working if Kat's dreamy expression is anything to go by.  Sutton continues, her tone now a bit more admonishing this time, "I haven’t seen the way Adena looks at you _yet_ because you never actually introduced us to your girlfriend but if your sappy pictures in Peru have anything to say is that the thing between the two of you well, that is love…" She says before adding, "bitch.”

 Jane shoots her a look. It was going all so well, Sutton shrugs.

"What? Things were getting too emotional and it was making me uncomfortable.”

Kat falls back into the couch with a heavy sigh. 

She keeps her eyes trained on the white ceiling, trying to make sense of everything that's happened in the last hour. The girls don't know what to do. They had talked about this at The Closet before, especially about Kat’s fear of commitment and her growing feelings for Adena. They never did talk about accidental declarations of love, so they were all understandably unsure of how ’to proceed.

“What does this all mean? Do you think she heard me? Did we break up? Are we going to--" suddenly it hits her like a bag of bricks, "oh shit, I just ran off.” Kat stops her ramble and stands to turn to the girls, eyes wide. “Guys, what if she thinks I’m running. Do you think--, I mean, what if she leaves  _again_ ?”

It’s the “again”, whispered fearful and vulnerable that seems like a punch to Jane’s gut. She and Sutton exchange glances in a silent communication that leads to mutual agreement. Jane goes over to their closet while Sutton goes over to Kat, her tone calm and soft but with still enough steel that asked to be obeyed. It reminded Jane a bit of Jacqueline.

“It’s not going to happen, honey, because we won’t let that happen.”

“I know, it’s just-” Kat lets out a deep breath and looks up, trying to gather her thoughts. Or were they tears? She doesn’t know anymore. “Everything has been so tumultuous, you know? I ran from her, she ran from me. Things were so fragile and difficult for so long that I feel like we are still on wet sand and we keep slowly sinking and sinking. Why does it feel like sinking, Sutton?”

Sutton gives her little condescending pats on the back, "It’s the lack of communication, it tends to do that, but we’ll fix it in no time, babes,” A series of fumbling noises seem to come out of Jane’s room, even a few curses thrown in the midst. Kat cranes her neck to see it better.

“What is Jane doing there?” She asks. Sutton grips her two cheeks to keep her from peaking, making her look like a fish, “Not important right now. You are important. You’re Kat Edison and you got this." 

“I got this.” She murmurs nodding to herself. 

“You got this, babe!” Jane yells from the closet accompanied from a heavy thud.

“I got this.” She says with more force. Sutton slaps her back in camaraderie. _Hard_. 

 “That’s what I like to hear. Come on, let’s win your girlfriend back and maybe get some gelato on the way!”

* * *

 

They drag her outside where suddenly there’s a different car, Jane has a duffle bag with shoes, clothes, and food much to Kat’s surprise. The girls all hop into the car and Jane starts giving directions while Sutton helps Kat get ready.

“Eyes on the street, Carl!” Jane barks protective, typing something on her cellphone.  Carl, the same driver that took them to Brooklyn for Jane’s story, drives on pleading for Sutton to be careful with the makeup on his recently cleaned leather seats. He's silenced with an indignant “Please, I’m a  _professional_ ". 

Kat just goes with the flow, confused but grateful for her friends, and Carl.

A few minutes later with her head halfway out of one of Jane’s tops, Kat points out, voice baffled by the fabric, "This is nowhere near where Adena lives.”

Jane huffs, eyes flashing at her through the rearview mirror.

“Well, we don’t actually _know_ where Adena lives since _you_  hadn’t invited us there yet,” Jane says pointedly, and Kat feels a bit bad for not thinking about that before. What if Adena thought about that too? Why hasn't she thought about that? 

Sensing her inner struggle, Sutton rushes to reassure her.

"Don't worry, we are going to romance the shit out of your girlfriend anyway.” The twinkle in both their eyes is just too bright for it not to excite Kat too and Sutton adds. “We are Nora Ephron-ing your relationship!”

“Oh my God, I  _love_ Nora Ephron,” Carl exclaims.

* * *

 

Adena had noticed strange occurrences in Kat’s behavior for the last couple of weeks. It took her a while for her to see but whenever they were together, she was prone to long silences followed by a series of uncomfortable looking expressions. At first, she thought it was because they were watching a movie with subtitles and Firuze had warned her that Americans didn't like that so much. But then it would appear when they were in restaurants, museums, taking walks, listening to music. Always when the conversation would touch more couple like topics. It would come suddenly and as soon as Adena caught her breath to ask about it, it was gone and in its place the trademark smile that made Adena want to bite her girlfriend's cheeks. 

Sometimes when she was with Kat, Adena felt a bit like a fraud. She was labeled a provocateur by the same magazine that her girlfriend worked for, she was known for being daring and bold, the poster girl for the modern revolution or whatever it was that her publicist wrote, but still she didn’t have the courage to break through this veil of things unsaid between the two of them. 

What good was in being bold if you only used it when it was easy? And talking with Kat, about this particular issue, wasn't easy.

She told herself that she wouldn’t breach the subject just yet because she wanted Kat to have some time to enjoy them and their new relationship, one that yes, was born in struggle and heartbreak but that also was filled with joy and affection.  

Then spending time with Kat began to affect her. 

It began small and unassuming where being together felt like the thin slice of warm sunshine on your skin during cold mornings, comforting but fleeting. It was still early enough in their relationship for Adena to convince herself and attribute it to the newness of the two of them being together. The honeymoon phase where they were both lovesick fools.

Then, the idea of seeing Kat got her anxious like a middle schooler waiting impatiently for the school bell to ring before summer break, eyes glued to the clock and legs jiggling anxiously.She still attributes it to the newness of them, even if the feelings didn't go away.

Eventually, being with Kat became something she didn't have anything to compare to. She became a mark, a chapter, an entire book that was new and unknown in everything that was Adena. 

Now things were compared to Kat. The painting was beautiful like Kat's face when Adena first brought her breakfast in bed. The song was heartbreaking as telling Kat she was going to Paris. And what was relief if not seeing her girlfriend's face as she exited the double doors of the airport after weeks apart? 

It scared her. What losing that determined yet adorable twenty-something Social Media Director would do to her?

Her mind would go around in circles trying to understand it all. Suddenly, she was met with an uncomfortable thought. What if the thing that brought unease to Kat, the thing in her mind that brought doubt and invaded her thoughts, was them, their relationship?

Adena wasn’t in any way naive. She knew her value and understood that sometimes relationships, for better or for worse, ended. Still, the doubt crept up to her, crawled to her dreams during cold nights when Kat’s presence couldn’t scare them away.

"Why do you stay in prison, when the door is so wide open?” her mother would say and one day, Adena listened.

She was resolute. She would not be a victim of her own fears, especially a fear that could be faced head-on and conquered. One day she got out of bed, gave Kat a kiss, prayed and promised herself they were going to talk. After pancakes, of course, because Kat loved having pancakes for breakfast when she slept over. 

When Kat woke up, the coffee was ready and the pancakes were almost done. There was a fine line between uncooked and burnt pancakes, so in order for everything to go perfectly, Adena was paying special attention to them this morning. Nothing would go wrong today, least of all the pancakes.

That day, Adena might have been paying too much attention to the food than strictly necessary, but at the moment they were the only thing in the way of her fears and calling off the whole thing. So, if she was cooking the thing with the power of her mind, then so be it.  That is until the L bomb was dropped and Kat ran off leaving Adena and a perfect stack of pancakes alone.

For a while, all she could do was stare at the door, a small part of her expecting Kat to come back running and say it had all been a joke, Adena would shake her head fondly and they would eat breakfast in harmony, ready for the day ahead. 

But no one came through the door.

Accepting it, Adena went over to one of the barstools and sat down, pouring a cup of coffee to herself, more for something to do than an actual desire to drink it. After two full gulps, the thoughts in her mind started making more sense.

Normally, Adena would run after Kat and demand that they talk, get answers, communicate. That would’ve worked with Coco. For her talking helped make sense of her thoughts and feelings. With Kat, Adena learned, to insist in times of stress would only serve to push her even farther away. 

Not one to dismiss a lesson learned, Adena decided simply to wait. She knew Kat would be with her friends, a safe haven of support and friendship she admired so much in their relationship, so at least she was safe with friends.

She’d sit still until Kat felt ready to talk to her.

Of course, only figuratively, because her hands were itching for something to do, her usual calm demeanor giving place to a nervous energy as she looked for something to do at the apartment.

She settles on redecorating her apartment. Moves her furniture around, drags her couch all over the place only to bring it back to its original place, making her knees complain and her back to ache in return. She’s just considering the logistics of moving her couch again, this time for a more effective vacuuming of the living room when she receives a series of text from an unknown number.

_Hey, it’s Kat. I’m using Jane’s phone._

_I’m sorry for running off, that was not...ideal._

_Can we talk? By the water where we saw the violinist for the first time_ ?”

Adena stares at the text stricken, trying to wrap her mind around its meaning. When they first started chatting more often, during her time in Paris, Kat would joke that Adena was a “Mom Texter”, often too serious and straightforward in her messages. She took it upon herself to teach Adena the wonders of mobile communication with in-depth lessons of proper emoji and bitmoji use, Snapchat filters, when to use correct punctuation and grammar, and the mysterious acronyms and abbreviations, admittedly the only part that still confused Adena every now and then. She thought the subject to be slightly silly but the fun of late nights trading snaps and videos with Kat made her more open to the technology. 

A few months ago she wouldn’t even consider the absence of emojis or the serious tone of the text but right now every character was a new and different variable in their relationship.

What does it _mean_?

Just answer it, she chided herself mentally, you were the one that wanted to talk, after all.

She sits down on the couch blindly without taking her eyes from the text, suddenly glad she didn’t move it from its original place and bites her lower lip as she types her reply.

 

**I understand. Of course, we can talk. I’ll meet you there in fifteen.**

 

She considers typing ‘I love you’ to reassure Kat, maybe even herself but deletes it before hitting send. She felt the uncertainty of their relationship like walking barefoot in a dark room filled with glass shards, best not to make any risky movements.

She puts her phone down on the couch and thinks about taking the bus to the park, it’ll give her time to think and the ride might help calm her nerves. With that in mind, she gets up and walks over to the closet, not quite in the mood to get out of her comfortable clothes. Looking over the assortment of clothes, she decides to keep her jeans but adds some ankle boots, one of Kat’s comfortable sweatshirts and a dark blue jersey hijab since the day seemed to be a bit chilly.

She puts her boots on and shuts the lights before grabbing her keys and Kat’s phone. 

She pauses by the door and surveys the apartment. Regardless of the result from their talk, things were about to change today. Her eyes scan everything that could lead to a connection to Kat, a silly attempt at measuring her current presence in her life and how big the impact of her absence would be. The dark empty room just stares at her, without a clear answer and Adena crosses the door without looking back.

* * *

The swaying of the bus and the purr of the engine soothes her mind as she watches the city fly by the window. The bus is almost empty, only her, two seniors, a teenage boy and the smell of vomit lingering in the air.

She calls her mother and the voice filling the earphones in her ear makes her presence so real that Adena can almost see it in her head, sitting beside her with a hand laying on her bad knee and knowing eyes that could see right through her.

“So, you wanted to _talk_ to her but you were afraid of _losing_ her and now you don’t _want_ to talk to her because you _think_ you lost her?” She asks with a huff. In the background there's the sound of someone calling for her mother, that ignores it. 

"You could say that, yes." she tries to say diplomatically, a technique she used to use as a child to stall for her subsequent admission of guilt. Her mother as smart now as she was then, responds with a grunt.

Kat loves to point out what a bad ass Adena was in the 'real world' but in her mother’s presence, she would, always and forever, be the mischievous little girl, the baby and sole bearer of all the fussing and preoccupation. Which was why the lack of a long lecture was concerning to Adena.

There's the sound again of someone calling for her mother. She moves the phone from her mouth and yells, "I'm talking to my baby daughter. Come back, later!"

She feels bad for interrupting her mother's life. 

"It's no problem really. I don't want to trouble you," she tells her mother, guilt eating away at her. First, she's a bad girlfriend, then a bad daughter. It seemed like a day for self-reflection and self-improvement. She makes a silent promise to try and talk to her family more.

"Nonsense. It's probably your father and your cousin with their silly internet videos. Tell your mother what's bothering you."

Adena sighs and leans her face on the bus window.

"I'm afraid of saying or doing something wrong that will drive her away." She pauses, looking for a way to make sense. "Kat is like a cat." 

It wasn't exactly a revelation or the best comparison she could make and her mother snorts a laugh, "You know they love you, but you have to be careful not to push them too much or you'll scare them. Does that make sense?"

"No," her mother says bluntly and Adena laughs tearfully before asking,  “What if what I say or do isn’t enough?”

“Then what else is there for you to do?" Hearing that seems to corner Adena giving her only one way out. Is it good to no longer have doubts even if it takes away your other options?

Her mother hums contemplative, and Adena knows what's coming, "There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen.” She says in that matter of fact voice she used every time she quoted Rumi because for her mother there’s little to be said that Rumi hasn’t said it before in some type or form.However, she seems to sense that maybe her daughter needed something more. “Darling, when two people are scared, one of them needs to be brave. Which one are you?”

She knows which one she needs to be, but has no idea which one she actually was.

“I don’t know if I like the answer,” Adena whispers. She doesn’t know if it's talking in Persian with her mother that brings her back to the woman she was when she left home or the fact that is her mother on the other end of the line, the woman that knew and loved her more than anyone else, but vulnerability seems to leak from her words and for once, Adena found strength in being vulnerable.

And just like that, she understands. “I think I understand now. Mom, this is my stop. I’ll talk to you later. I love you.”

“And I love you. Call me later." she hangs up. 

Adena closes her eyes, composing herself before getting up to her stop, steeling herself for the conversation to come with every step.

 

* * *

 

The walk from the bus stop to the meeting stop isn't far. She sits by one of the nearby benches and waits for Kat to show.

It takes a while, plenty of time to study the shimmering of the light on the water, the people enjoying the sun and the sounds of the park. Soon her ears picked up on a hushed conversation, hushed only in principle and too shrill for it to go unnoticed. She lifts her head to see Kat walking by the cemented path, balloons in hand for some reason and following her are two girls that she recognizes from the gallery, the small one holding a tablet high looking for reception. 

If she weren't so nervous, Adena was sure she would laugh. She gets up and watches as the girls continue to whisper forcefully to Kats that listens attentively. 

Soon enough, a little too soon for Adena, Kat’s right in front of her offering a handful of colorful helium balloons with a half smile. It’s entirely too endearing and Adena takes it looking as taken for this woman as she certainly is. 

“I know you have things to say but let me just say this for a second,” Kat begins but pauses waiting for Adena that nods. “Okay, so here it goes. I love you, it’s weird and it’s scary but I love you."

Kat sags with relief and a little bit pleased with herself too. Adena is stricken, staring at Kat with a mix of hope and disbelief, while Jane and Sutton watch hanging on to every word.

“I love that you are this bad ass photographer that traveled all around the world but you named the fern I gave you Bern." 

This causes Adena to blush.  A few feet behind her, Sutton snorts, " _Bern, the fern_ ". Carl shushes her.

Kat carries on, "I actually love that you wear flip flops with socks. I love watching action movies with you because you always hide your face in my neck during the fight scenes because you can’t bear watching people get hurt, even if it’s for pretend.” Kat looks behind her and Sutton checks something with Jane before giving the thumbs up. 

“The thing is, I’ve always been afraid of commitment, of different parts of my life crashing and changing and especially of being stuck without other options,” _Oh._ Well, It hurts, she thinks, but she understands and she nods looking away. Sometimes love just isn't enough.

Clueless to her inner turmoil, Kat continues talking, “But after our time together I realized that I don’t need other options because I’ll always choose you, obviously,” Adena frowns and wants to point out that that is not so obvious for everyone after all. 

Kat smiles and opens her arms slightly and Adena can picture a small Kat doing the same, all dimples and adorable smiles "So, I’m making a gesture to show you I’m all in. First, I’m formally introducing you to my two best friends. Jane, Sutton, come here!” 

She didn't really need to yell, given how committed they were at listening to their conversation. The girls come forward. Sutton is the first to reach Adena and immediately wraps her in a hug. The balloons get in the way but they make it work somehow.

“Sutton, nice to meet you. I’m the one you go for insightful but funny commentary. Jane is the one you go to if you want your gelato eaten.” She says shooting Jane a look before giving her room to hug Adena. “Excuse you. I’m the one with the lifetime supply of Pipa’s pizza. Jane Sloan, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too. And, that is good to hear, thank you.” Adena tells them with a grin, happy to finally meet Kat's best friend. She chances a glance at Kat, that is watching the three of them with a fond smile on her face.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about someth--" she tries but Kat lowers her eyes to the tablet, smile falling slightly from her face, She takes a deep breath, like a diver preparing for the dive. There’s an edge of anxiousness in it and when she speaks her words are filled with forced confidence.

“Now that you met my friends, I want you to meet my parents. They travel a lot and it’s hard getting them both together without proper warning, but I managed to get a hold of them.” She reaches for the tablet that Jane was fiddling with before and a big part of Adena can only bask in the joy of this moment, of how Kat so skillfully was able to lay rest to all of her doubts and fears. She's in this, with as much commitment and devotion as Adena and she doesn't seem to be going anywhere for the moment.

But there’s a voice in Adena’s head saying something is not quite right.  A voice quite similar to her mother’s voice echo in her mind. “Listen.”

So she does. She listens to how shaky Kat’s voice is as she explains the hardship of finding a good wi-fi signal this far into the park. She sees how her hands tremble as her fingers dance across the screen, sending the ok for her parents to make the call. She sees the shaky smile Kat sends her over before focusing her attention back to the tablet. 

She sees how committed Kat is at making her happy, even if she's not ready for it.

It feels wrong somehow. It may be what she wishes the most, she realizes, but it's not happiness if it makes Kat uncomfortable or scared. 

When two people are scared, one of them needs to be brave and now Adena knows which one she is. 

She goes over to Kat who's explaining what is happening to her parents and silently takes the tablet from her. She aims it at her face and speaks directly to them.

“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Edison. Nice to meet you. I'm Adena. Could you excuse us for a minute, please?” she hands the device over to Jane and the balloons to Sutton. “We’ll be right back.”

She takes Kat by the hand and drags her away to the side near the water and out of earshot. "Kat, what are you doing?” she folds her arms over her chest concerned. “You don’t have to do this.”

Kat huffs and smiles unconvincingly, it seems plastic and lacks the sparkle that usually makes Adena’s heart beat harder, this one just making her stomach churn. She mentally curses because she almost ruined everything. “I don’t understand what you mean. I know it’s not ideal but you are meeting my parents and friends. I’m, you know,  committing and all that.”

“And I thank you for that.” Adena smiles softly, caressing Kat's cheeks with the back of her hand and making Kat’s eyes flutter. 

“I love you, Kat Edison. I have for a while and I suspect I’ll continue to do so for a very long time,” she says in a hoarse whisper, so low and soft that Kat imagines it being transported by the wind from Adena’s mouth and reaching her ears, enclosed in the bubble that consisted of only the two of them. 

Adena takes a step closer to Kat, this time both hands cradling Kat’s face, her expression burning with love and affection so foreign in its intensity that Kat is struck breathless. “I’ll love you alone and I’ll love you with the people you love. I’ll love you without balloons and I’ll love you and your strange romantic gestures even if sometimes I don’t get all of the references. But most of all, I’ll love you enough to keep you from getting hurt because of my insecurities. I don’t need shows of commitment, I just need  _you_.”

“Holy shit, that’s romantic,” Sutton whispers to Jane from a nearby bush. As stated before, the girls weren’t exactly good at speaking in low tones. Kat was thankful though for the icebreaker because she didn’t know how to react to that. She went to the park imagining she would have to convince Adena she was in this, maybe grovel a bit. She even took Carl’s suggestion and bought balloons because according to the man no one could really be mad when you appeared with balloons. Now, Adena stood in front of her saying all of those things and she was just confused. 

“Wait, aren’t you mad at me for running, again?”

Adena laughs, looking at her fondly.

“Not as mad as I am with myself for not running after you.” Adena answers back and they hear a quite “ _dude_ ” from Jane. “I don’t mind that you run as long as you come back. Actually, I’d prefer if there weren’t any running. I know how much you hate exercising.”

Kat grins wide “I could certainly do that."

Adena smiles at that, before looking down fiddling with her fingers, suddenly nervous. "I also want to apologize. You aren’t the only one to blame for this,” Kat frowns at that as if she couldn’t process the thought that Adena did something wrong in their relationship and only strengthening Adena’s reasoning. “I knew you were having doubts and I was so scared of appearing vulnerable and, I don’t know, breaking this image you had of me, that I just… let this space between us to grow. I’m sorry.”

She inhales deeply and looks at Kat, pieces of armor dropping, baring all of her to Kat, the weak and vulnerable beneath the bold and provocative. “This is me too.”

For what appeared a long time, Kat stood there, her eyes absorbing all of what Adena was offering her. With their eyes still locked, she takes a step forward taking Adena's hands that were still anxiously fiddling with each finger, into her own.

"Okay," she accepts in a hoarse whisper, eyes reassuring. 

It’s hardly the most romantic exchange in the history of all romantic gestures, but they had enough of the rom-com big moments, and no cinematographic big scene could replace the pure feeling of relief and joy in Adena’s chest right now.

"Just promise me that if something bothers or scares you, you'll talk to me?" she asks softly looking up at Kat, their faces getting closer.

"I promise," she whispers back dropping a quick peck on her brow. "And don't be afraid to be yourself with me. I'm in, Adena, I really am."

"I won't. I love you."

"I love you too."

They keep standing there, holding hands and staring at each other like idiots.

"Kiss her!" a voice quite similar to Kat's father shouts and is accompanied by a familiar sound floating through the park. "Our violinist," Adena says with smile and forehead resting on Kat's brow.

"Yeah, I really love that guy and his impeccable timing," Kat is basking in the moment. She slides her arms around Adena's waist and they sway to the sound of the violin, lost in themselves.

"A violin is so much more romantic, right, guys?" Sutton says to their little group watching the couple. Kat's parents nod, each in their respective video box.   
  
"Yeah, I guess..." Carl says dejectedly putting his guitar halfway back into its case.

"Kiss her!" Demands a second voice and Kat doesn't really care about the identity of the owner, more than happy to oblige.

They were going to be just fine.


End file.
